The Messenger of Allah, sallallahu
`alayhi wa sallam, said, "The best actions are continuous ones even
if little..." [Muslim] After I looked at my own state and the state
of those who waste their time, I wanted to encourage our souls to obey
and worship Allah `azza wa jall by compiling a list of some well-known
actions that Allah `azza wa jall has honored us with and prepared a
great reward for those who do them. This list is also a reminder of
better utilizing our time and seizing the opportunity of every hour and
making use of it. My goal in compiling the list is not to point out the
actions as much as to show the necessity of organizing and planning and
preserving one's time by investing it in something good.

First of all, let us talk about time, with which many are heedless and
wasteful, and which importance only few recognize.

Time is like wealth; it requires our attention and care in both spending
and managing. While it is possible to gather and store wealth, and even
add to it, time, however, is in no way like that. For every minute that
passes can never come back even if you were to spend all the wealth of
this world.

So since time is preordained to be a specific period that can not be
brought forward or delayed and since the value of it depends on what it
is spent on, it is obligatory upon every human being to preserve time,
be it little or long. One should use it in the best possible way and not
be heedless about it.

In order to preserve one's time, one must reflect on how and where to
spend it. The best way to spend time is in obeying Allah ta`ala. One
will never regret time spent in such acts of obedience. The only regret
would be that if one were not to take yet more provisions in terms of
good actions. So set your goal, O brother or sister, make your intention
sincere, beginning with a desire to preserve your time and beware of
wasting any minute of it.

My noble brother and sister,

I selected the time span of ten minutes (for performing particular
righteous actions listed in this book) due to ease of application, so
that one starts with them until he or she engages in good all the time,
by Allah's grace. In these actions there is conformity with the saying
of the Messenger, sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam, "The most beloved
action to Allah is the most continuous, even if little." [Muslim]

Imam an-Nawawi, may Allah have mercy on him, said in relation to this
hadeeth, "In it (the above hadeeth) is an exhortation to perform
deeds regularly and continuously, and [an explanation] that a small deed
done regularly is better than a great one that is interrupted. It is
because by continuously doing a little of such actions as, [one’s]
obedience, remembrance, awareness of Allah, sincerity and dedication to
the Creator, subhanahu wa ta`ala, the outcome accumulates and it is
multiplied exceeding what is greater but interrupted."

The Messenger, sallalahu `alayhi wa sallam, spoke the truth. My dear
brother or sister, I will give you an example of the blessing of
utilizing ten minutes in righteousness. Glorifying Allah subanahu wa
ta`ala by saying "Subhan Allah" a hundred times daily means
that one will do so 36,500 times in a year. So take account of your
soul, my brother or sister. You can only glorify Allah this much in a
year if you are regular in performing tasbeeh and if you make good use
of your time.

Similarly, if one reads the Quran for ten minutes regularly, one can
finish reading it in full every two months. Is this how you do it? Ask
yourself; do you complete recitation of the full Quran outside of
Ramadan? And do not limit, my dear brother or sister, these special ten
minutes, devoted to obedience, to be performed only once a day. Perhaps
you will find the time after the Morning Prayer, or after the sunrise,
or after the noon prayer, or before sleep.

Likewise, if one manages to memorize only a single verse from the Book
of Allah, `azza wa jall, every day, he or she will complete memorization
the complete Quran in only eight years.

Most of the actions mentioned are performed with the tongue, so one is
able to gain rewards at all times and in all situations. So whoever
wants to strive in obedience to Allah, doors of good are open and one
can make one's days and indeed all of one's life like the ten minutes.
Abu Bakra, radhiallahu anhu, related that a person said: "O
Messenger of Allah, which people are the best?" He said,
"Whose life is long and his actions good." He said, "And
what people are the worst?" He said, "Whose life is long and
his actions bad." [Muslim]

This is an opportunity for you, dear brother or sister. Ten minutes in
which one can taste the sweetness of regularity of performing righteous
actions and which can be a step towards managing one's time, until all
of one's life becomes beneficial. Ten minutes that are in agreement with
the saying of Allah `azza wa jall, "And I have not created the Jinn
or humans except to worship Me." [adh-Dhaariyaat (51):56]

Ibn ul-Qayyim, may Allah have mercy on him, said: "In conclusion,
the servant, when he turns away from Allah and becomes preoccupied with
sins (in this world), he loses days of his true life (in the hereafter).
He will see the consequence of losing them the Day he says, "He
will say, 'Oh, I wish I had sent ahead [some good] for my life [i.e.
true, everlasting life in the Hereafter].'" [al-Fajr (89):24]”